1 . Tricks To Preparing For Winter SADness
Have you felt tired and sleepy recently? Or do you experience a mood shift as it turns to winter?
There’s been a fair bit of research supporting light therapy (疗法) as being effective for seasonal kinds of depression. So don’t withdraw like the hibernating bear but walk outside to expose yourself to the sun every day.
Choose essential foods to boost mood.
When the temperature drops, our body loses more heat and requires high calorie food to supplement this loss.
Engage in more social interaction.
Too nervous to enter winter? Not every mild blue feeling in winter is SAD. It may be just a psychological response that everyone could experience seasonally. If winter comes, can spring be too far behind?
| A．If so, just lighten up. |
| B．If not, it couldn’t be better! |
| C．Work out on a regular basis to keep fit. |
| D．Get outside regularly to absorb some light. |
| E．But food merely containing carbs can make you feel more tired. |
| F．It is a great way to invite a friend or family member to support each other. |
| G．Remember, even 20 or 30 minutes could make a huge difference. |
2 . At a time when we are all experiencing an extraordinary level of stress, science offers a simple and effective way to bolster our own emotional health. To help yourself, start by helping others.
Our bodies and minds benefit in a variety of ways when we help others. Some research has focused on the “helper’s high”. Studies show that volunteering, donating money, or even just thinking about donating money can release feel-good brain chemicals and activate the part of the brain stimulated by the pleasure of food. Studies of volunteers show that do-gooders had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol on days they did volunteer work.
In fact, the act of giving advice has been shown to be more beneficial than receiving it. In a series of studies of 2,274 people, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago found that after middle school students mentored younger students about studying, they ended up spending more time on their own homework. Overweight people who counselled others on weight loss were more motivated to lose weight themselves.
Feeling responsible for other people also can help us cope with whatever challenges life brings. Emily A. Greenfield, an associate professor of social work at Rutgers University, studied a concept called ”felt obligation“, which is measured by asking people questions such as how obligated they would feel to give money to a friend in need, even if it meant putting themselves in a bind. Dr Greenfield analysed data collected from 849 participants in an ongoing study of health and well-being that asked about felt obligation as well as health-related declines they experienced over time, such as problems carrying groceries or walking a block.
As it turned out, the people who had higher levels of felt obligation—meaning they were the type of people to sacrifice for others—coped better with their own life challenges.
She noted that caring for others helps us to regulate our own emotions and gain a sense of control. “When we remind a friend that social distancing measures are temporary, and this too shall pass, we are also, in effect, reminding ourselves and serving to regulate our own emotions,” she said.
1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?| A．Donating money can release brain chemicals making people feel good. |
| B．Giving advice is more beneficial than giving money. |
| C．Overweight people helping others on weight loss are discouraged from losing weight. |
| D．People having higher levels of felt obligation are less likely to help others. |
| A．improve | B．maintain |
| C．ruin | D．blow |
| A．Better handling life difficulties. |
| B．Having lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. |
| C．Expressing emotions more accurately. |
| D．Achieving a sense of control. |
| A．The Challenge for Volunteering | B．A Beneficial Attempt |
| C．The Rapid Growth of Volunteer Work | D．The Science of Helping Out |
Crying is a natural response to emotions. Regardless of
Our wedding anniversary(纪念日)had arrived and like every other day of the year, I was very busy. My husband, Roy. sent me a beautifully wrapped present before the day and he even made a reservation at an expensive restaurant. After a hard day at work, I hurried home, ran into the house and jumped into the shower. When my sweetheart returned, I was already dressed in my finest clothes.
Just at the very moment the babysitter(保姆)arrived and we were ready to go. We were on the point of walking out of the house when the smallest member in our family came over to us with an unhappy look.
“Daddy, didn’t you mean to take me to buy Mamma a present?” Becky, my eight-year-old daughter said.
Roy looked at his watch and realized that if we were to make our reservation, we had to leave right away.
“Sorry, I was late getting home, honey,” he said.
“That’s OK,” Becky replied. “I understand.”
The entire evening was bittersweet. I couldn’t help being concerned about the disappointment in Becky’s eyes. I remembered how the joyful look had left her face, just before the door closed behind us. She wanted me to know how much she loved me. She didn’t realize it, but I already knew it very well.
Today, I can’t remember what was wrapped in that beautiful box, but I’ll never forget the special gift which I received when we arrived back home. Becky was asleep on the bed, holding a box. When I kissed her face, she awoke. “I’ve got something for you, Mamma,” she said, as a giant smile covered her tiny face. The little box was wrapped in newspaper. As I tore the paper off and opened the box, I found the sweetest gift that I have ever received.
注意：
1. 续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
After Roy and I left for our date, Becky got busy.
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My wonderful gift is still kept in a special place in my bedroom today, some thirteen years later.
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5 . As a little kid I always asked to be held up in the air. So I could
My love of washing clothes only
What I learned from my professors were not just the
| A．sit | B．look | C．fall | D．come |
| A．lines | B．groups | C．pairs | D．circles |
| A．sewed | B．sorted | C．washed | D．made |
| A．developed | B．awoke | C．changed | D．recorded |
| A．care for | B．watch for | C．pay for | D．seek for |
| A．formed | B．deepened | C．faded | D．returned |
| A．teens | B．adulthood | C．babyhood | D．honeymoon |
| A．differently | B．directly | C．regularly | D．patiently |
| A．schedule | B．bend | C．deadline | D．budget |
| A．exact | B．belief | C．frank | D．fair |
| A．all in all | B．after all | C．above all | D．first of all |
| A．how-tos | B．what-ifs | C．follow-ups | D．break-ups |
| A．exchange | B．express | C．explain | D．expect |
| A．foods | B．rooms | C．clothes | D．cars |
| A．calmer | B．longer | C．brighter | D．slower |
6 . When reading, my mother likes to slice a paragraph or a sentence out and attach it to the wall of her kitchen. She picks boring sentences that puzzle me. But I prefer copying favorite bright lines into a journal in soft, gray No. 2 pencil, word by word.
She doesn’t know any of this. There's nothing shocking: for our chatting. we seldom begin certain conversations though we talk on the phone weekly, sometimes making each other laugh so hard that I choke and she cries. But what we don't say could fill up rooms. Fights with my father. Small failures in school. Anything that really upsets us.
My mother has never told me “I love you, Lisa.”—as if the four-word absence explains who I am—so I carry it with me, like a label on me. The last time she almost spoke the words was two years ago, when she called to tell me a friend had been in hospital. I said, “I love you, Mom.” She stopped for a while and then said, “Thank you.” I haven't said it since, but I've wondered why my mother doesn't until I've found a poem that supplies words for the blank spaces I try to understand in our conversations:
Don’t fill up on bread. I say absent-mindedly. The servings here are huge.
My son, middle-aged, says: Did you really just say that to me?
What he doesn’t know is that when we’re walking together, I desire to reach for his hand.
It's humble, yet heartbreaking. After copying it down in my journal, I emailed it to mom, adding “This poem makes me think of you.” My mother doesn’t read poetry—or at least, she doesn’t tell me, and I felt nervous clicking “Send”.
She never mentioned the poem. But the next time I went home for vacation, I noticed something new in the kitchen fixed to an antique board: the poem. The board hung above the heater, the warmest spot in the kitchen. The poem still hangs there. Neither my mother nor I have ever spoken about it.
1. What's the function of paragraph 1?| A．To stress the theme. | B．To establish the setting. |
| C．To represent the characters. | D．To create the atmosphere. |
| A．Shaky. | B．Distant. | C．Reserved. | D．Intense. |
| A．It reminded her of mom's love. |
| B．She wanted to apologize to mom. |
| C．It suited mom's taste of literature. |
| D．She needed an interpretation from mom. |
| A．A memory of golden days. |
| B．Daughter’s gratefulness to her. |
| C．A decoration in the plain kitchen. |
| D．Daughter's understanding of her. |
7 . It’s certainly human nature to worry. Especially today, when many of us seem to have problems about money, family, career or health concerns, worry may seem unavoidable.
Some people find meditation a very helpful and relaxing way to stop worrying too much. But you don’t necessarily need formal. meditation techniques. By combining any reflective and calming techniques that work for you, you may find that you stop worrying soon.
Even if you set aside a certain amount of time to really think about what’s worrying you, you may find that new ideas will come to you later when you least expect them.
Sometimes, letting ourselves think of the worst thing that could happen can actually reduce our worries.
| A．Many creative people experience this process. |
| B．Actually, the result would really not be that bad. |
| C．When things are out of your control, make peace with them. |
| D．There are also many other easy ways to help you stop worrying. |
| E．We all worry about different things at different points in our lives. |
| F．However, too much worry can make our stress level and health even worse. |
| G．Meanwhile, you will feel relaxed and think your problems over more creatively. |
8 . Music is a part of every culture around the world. In fact, the ability to appreciate music is built into our brains. Music makes us feel good. Many music studies look at the long-term benefits of being a music listener or participating in a music program as a child. But can listening to music help us connect and empathize (产生共鸣) with someone right at the moment? A new study aims to find it out.
In this study, 60 university students were asked to watch several 15-second videos in which a person describes an autobiographical (自传体的) experience. In some cases, people in the video talk about a relatively ordinary event, like moving into a new apartment, while other stories contain strong emotional content, like recalling a terrible accident or a loved one’s death.
While students watched these videos, the researchers randomly played either “emotionally neutral (中立的)” music or very sad music in the background. After watching each video, the students expressed how much sympathy they had for the person in the video, and how much they wanted to help that person. They were also tested on their social reasoning skills—how well they understood the person’s thinking method in the video. All of these could be signs of empathic connection (同感沟通).
Results showed that people watching the sad videos felt more sadness themselves and more sympathy for the other person than those watching the neutral videos—not a big surprise. But these empathic feelings were strengthened by listening to sad music. The music had no effect, however, on whether or not the students could reason out the other person’s experience and understand what they might be thinking or feeling.
While music is not the only way — other art forms, like fiction and dancing, have also been shown to increase empathy, for example—music could be a powerful tool. “It’d be very interesting to extend our finding further, to see if listening to music in a social context can improve our real-world ability to empathize with and feel sympathy for others in the long term,” says the lead researcher Brennan McDonald.
1. What does the new study want to find out?| A．Whether music can benefit us. |
| B．Whether music can arouse genuine emotions. |
| C．Whether music can improve the social effect. |
| D．Whether music programs can increase our confidence. |
| A．To film a short autobiographical video. |
| B．To share one of their miserable experiences. |
| C．To think up ways to help the person in need. |
| D．To watch videos while listening to different background music. |
| A．We can increase our sympathy by using some music. |
| B．Music helps us understand others’ thinking processes. |
| C．Most adults are much more emotional than children. |
| D．Music can influence us both emotionally and intellectually. |
| A．Study different types of music. |
| B．Test the long-term effect of music on people. |
| C．Find more ways to make people more caring. |
| D．Compare the effect of music with that of other art forms. |
9 . Eating well and getting enough sleep is great for self-care. Self-care also means taking time to manage stress and practice self-compassion.
Breathe
Become mindful of your breathing. Take a few minutes each day to focus on your breathing. Start by taking a deep breath.
Accept
Accept yourself, your feelings and the imperfection of life. The path to self-care starts with acceptance of your struggles.
Write
Walk
An easy way to care for yourself is to take a walk. Walking can distract your mind and create space between you and the stress in your life. Walking can be a resource for healing. When you sit around thinking about upsetting things, it will not help you.
| A．When we accept them |
| B．If we wouldn’t accept ourselves |
| C．Begin a simple writing exercise |
| D．Research shows that running benefits health |
| E．At first, your breathing is short and shallow |
| F．If you start walking, your physical energy changes |
| G．Here are four simple ways to quiet your mind and ease your stress |
One day something that upset me happened. It brought
To restore calm, I put on my outdoor equipment, grabbed my skis (滑雪板) and
I was honest with myself,
I forgave
